October 6, 2011 Day 16 Jefferson City, MO
We wakened to beautifully colored leaves blowing past our windshield. We called the capitol and decided to go on their 2:00 tour (lots of kids on field trips before that). We had previously driven by the capitol. It stands out because it is on top of a hill and has a high dome. I was unimpressed because it was made of limestone and had aged. Was I wrong!
Our very knowledgeable guide, Ann, was a teacher/librarian before she retired, and she used those skills to good advantage. We chatted at the desk while waiting for others, and we learned that Missouri?s population (6 million) is less than LA?s (7 million without including any of its suburbs). Car registration?any year, any make?is $28/year. The St. Louis Zoo and a state-run farm are free. A reasonable house here costs $80,000.
Our first stop was an awesome 3-story rotunda, with interesting sayings all around the perimeter of the 1st floor top. They have relevance today, especially ?Party honesty is party expediency,? and ?Ideas control the world,? (RIP, Steve Jobs).
Above the rotunda is a dome, and an 8600 pound chandelier with a 90? cable hangs overhead. Once a year, they lower it to clean it and check the cable, but they keep the date a secret. It is called The Whispering Gallery because it was designed to allow the tiniest whisper to be heard to the opposite side of the dome.
In the center of the rotunda floor was a bronze state seal (Picture 1). There was lots of symbolism:
o The grizzly bears stand for strength and courage. There are no grizzlies in Missouri or Louisiana.
o The baby bear stands for the hardiness of the pioneers on the plains and their hope to grow their fortunes.
o The crescent moon stands for the hope of a good future and it becoming full.
o I think the 1822 is the year the seal was designed. In 1821, it was admitted to the Union as a slave state. At the same time, Maine came in as a free state.
o The eagle stands for might.
o The Latin translates as, ?Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law.?
o The knight?s helmet stands for the military and honoring Missouri?s servicemen.
o The one large star in the middle stands for Missouri, and the 24 small stars stand for the states that entered the Union before them. However, since Missouri was the 24th state, there should have been only 23 small stars. Oops! But, it was already made, expensive, costly to replace, so it has stayed. Maybe it is symbolic of the fact that everyone makes mistakes.
The entire first and second floors of the rotunda are covered with beautiful murals (Pictures 2 & 3) depicting the elements of nature?water, earth, fire, and air, the people of Missouri, and the history. These are exquisite, and the artist painted all of them in London. He never came here before he painted them, and they are all on curved surfaces. He didn?t even come over here to supervise their installation, but they all fit perfectly. How did he paint a canvas for a curved wall? Two of the paintings glow when the sunlight is reflected onto them . How could he have known?
The first permanent capital was in St. Charles from 1821-1826. They decided to move the capital to the center of the state so it would be more equidistant for people to get to and so they could use the Osage River and Missouri River for transportation. Those 2 rivers converge just 12 miles from here. That second capital burned down in 1837 because of an accident with a fireplace. The next capital burned down in 1911 after being hit by lightning.
In a special election, Missourians voted to build a new capitol for $3.5 million. They had to raise money, so they sold bonds. The people bought $4.5 million worth, so a committee with no politicians on it, picked artists to decorate their new building and the grounds. This million paid for fountains, statues, and murals. 41 half-moon shaped paintings called lunettes about Missouri?s resources and history decorate the capitol, the Senate and the House. We took the bronze elevator to the 2nd floor. I liked the bears on top and the use of Roman numerals for the floors? numbers. (Picture 4)
There are 16 lunettes in the 2nd floor hallway?all have 3-point perspective. They seem to change size, shape, or they move with you as you walk along. You really need the guide to be able to see it. Dean tried to capture it on film. Look at the bridge opening in Picture 5 when we were on the left, and that same bridge opening in Picture 6. I loved the picture of the beautiful fall colors of Ha-Ha-Tanka, and I am going to plot it into our itinerary so I can see them in person. High on one wall was this bronze sculpture. The big star representing Missouri is obscured, but the 6 little stars represent 6 of the states that the pioneers settled in?Missouri was a ?passing-through? state. (Picture 7)
Jefferson was president when the Louisiana Purchase was made, and Missouri was part of it, so he is honored everywhere. There are 500,000 square feet in the capitol, and it is all made of Missouri stone, except the columns in the Senate and the House, which are made of solid granite from Vermont and New Hampshire.
Each year they have a golf tournament, which raises money for statues in The Hall of Famous Missourians on the 3rd floor. So far they have Stan ?The Man? Musial, Walt Disney, Sacajawea, Walter Cronkite, Harry S. Truman, Mark Twain, and J. C. Penney, who I recognized, and 31 others.
We came to the Grand Staircase, and it is amazingly steep and 30? wide. It is 79 steps long, goes from the first floor to the third floor and the entrance to the governor?s office, which we didn?t get to see. It is the largest indoor to outdoor staircase in the world. It is made of limestone, and there are no handrails. I stayed FAR away from it, although it was magnificent. I had the same feeling as when I looked down into the Grand Canyon. Bronze front doors?each 13? x 18?, are the largest cast since the Roman era.
We enjoyed the House Lounge. It is a room that would seat about 50, and it has gorgeous walls which tell the history of Missouri until 1931 when it was painted. It cost $16,000, and the people were enraged that politicians would spend this hard-earned tax money during the Depression. And the theme of the whole timeline is How the Work of the People Has Changed. I would have been irate, too! Under the major paintings are small sub-paintings. The one depicting the Eradication Order of 1838 was most surprising to me. The Mormons befriended the Negroes, so the people burned their homes and beat them up. The politicians didn?t want this violence to continue, SO THEY KICKED THE MORMONS OUT OF MISSOURI! They went to Illinois, where they were subsequently kicked out of there, too. This ?Eradication Order? stood in Missouri until 1976, and the one in Illinois was law until 2004! I asked about one picture, and it is of a Mormon being tarred and feathered.
I had to ask about women?s rights. Women first got to vote for President here in 1920. There has never been a woman candidate for governor.
Benton was considered the most talented muralist in the United States, but he irritated almost everyone with what he painted. There is a picture of a baby, Harold Brown, Jr., whose mother is cleaning his bare bottom. This was just not proper! He depicted the fighting of the Civil War because Missouri had the 3rd highest number of engagements. Missourians didn?t want to be reminded of losing the Civil War! How could he paint a lynching and the destruction done by both sides during the Civil War. Both sides stole grain, food, and clothing or burned those items if they couldn?t take them with them because they didn?t want them to fall into enemy hands.
We got to see the House of Representatives,, but not the Senate. Usually, visitors only get to go to the visitors? gallery, but because of my scooter, we got to go into the actual room. Beautiful stained glass windows surround it.
A bell sounds when it is time for the 163 representatives to come vote electronically. In the Senate, the 34 senators vote by voice vote. Representatives may serve 4 2-year terms; senators may serve 2 4-year terms; governors may serve 2 4-year terms. They earn $38,000 per year + per diem + mileage + medical benefits + retirement. Usually they meet from January-May, and they have a 1-day session in September to override the governor?s vetoes. However, they are now in the 5th week of a special session which has dealt with economic issues and teacher-student electronic communications. They elected a Democratic governor, Republican Senate, and a Republican Assembly. The other state officers are split about 50-50.
Inside the House is the largest single canvas mural in the world, and it depicts the glory of Missouri.
We had to go outside and see the statues that $16 million bought. Ceres, Roman goddess of grain, is on top of the capitol dome. The statues outside were pleasing and full of symbols. My favorite of the 13 was the Fountain of the Centaurs. It had 2 centaurs, one wrestling with a serpent, and the other wrestling with a giant fish, which represent the wildness of the West. There are two boys on each side of each centaur, spraying water on the centaurs to help them, and the fish represent the playfulness of the many small animals in the West.
I?m not even a novice art critic, but I really liked the art in this capitol. Of all the capitols we?ve seen (about 30), this is the one which most requires a guide to even begin to realize what you are seeing. If you go, be sure to get a pamphlet from the Visitors? Desk and see all the statues.
Another pretty day?high 80?s?the wind picked up some today
Binder Park Campground?FHU with 50 amps, $15 (Can you believe that???)
(which, BTW, is where stayed overnight).
